A Tale of Two Families: The Diary of Jan Packard, Melbourne, 1974

My Australian Story #2

by Jenny Pausacker

Apparently we’re going to a demo. I’ve seen pictures of demos in the newspapers of course — people marching down the street, holding banners and bits of cardboard with signs on them ... But this demo sounded like it was just for women. I didn’t get it. Jan Packard starts a diary because she is bored, but she suddenly finds there is a lot happening around her. Everyone seems to be changing and doing things she never expected. Her mum is attending consciousness-raising meetings, her best friend has gone boy-crazy, she discovers her older brother was a draft dodger during the Vietnam war and there are protests and politics everywhere.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Diary, Young Adult, Middle Grade

154 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Jenny Pausacker is a Melbourne-based freelance writer. Her young adult novel, What Are Ya? won the Angus and Robertson Junior Writers Fellowship and was short-listed for two State awards. Other short stories have been published in the anthologies, Landmarks, The Blue Dress and Bittersweet. The short story 'About Zan' was dedicated to Helen and published in 'Family: A Collection of Short Stories'.

Reviews

[Amy]

I decided to re-read this yesterday after I found it in a box of long-forgotten books underneath my bed. I first read this book when I was 9 or 10, as part of the scholastic My Story Book Club (loved getting those things!), and re-reading it really allowed me to see that this little book is most likely where my early feminist views came from! I distinctly remember being outraged by all the intolerance in the book, before the narrator is really aware of it, and telling my brothers off for weeks afterwards whenever they identified something as a 'girls toy'. So thanks Jenny Pausacker for being my first introduction into something which I now hold very strong, although more adult-centric views about :)

Oh, and the book is freaking awesome.

[Michaela Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Tale of Two Families: The Diary of Jan Packard" follows the story of a 13-year-old girl growing up in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill during the 1970s. It's a wonderful novel that introduces children to a number of the political hot potatoes of the day, including women's liberation and the Vietnam war. These events inevitably influence Jan's family and friends, becoming a part of her world and her burgeoning adult identity.

Highly recommended!

Also, I gotta say, if you're over a certain age and you hail from Melbourne, you WILL find it impossible to read this book without becoming nostalgic!

[Kirsty Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there are many things I love about this book which explores the turbulent and divisive 70s through the experiences of two families that have been next-door-neighbours since before the narrator Jan was born (including her involvement with the Women's Lib Movement), where it shines brightest for me is in how it delves into what both draft dodgers and soldiers who experienced PTSD from the Vietnam War went through in a compassionate and even-handed way. Well-written, thought-provoking, and entertaining... what more could you want!

[Annabel Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

man this book is so inspirational :-) i wish i read this earlier 5 *'s is what i give it because it has so much about history - mostly in Australia, but thats ok - about society back in the 1970s

[Hayley Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first prescribed school books I genuinely enjoyed reading. If that doesn't say anything, I don't know what will.

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brought back lots of old memories of those times.

[Deiondre Silver · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was okay but I'll never read it again

[Sophie Maryke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jan was with me when I was 10 years old, and like her, didn't understand what was going on, was quiet, and often overwhelmed. She was with me when I was 12, starting to come out of my shell but trying to remember my past childhood. he was with me when I was 14, obsessed with history and not being treated differently because of my gender or culture. And of course, many, many years later, I still relate to Jan, learn from her and cherish the escapism that can be found in the world of hers that this book unfolds.

[Ille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I really enjoyed this book, I don't think I would re-read it which is why I have only given it a three star rating.
However this book was set in a 1970s Melbourne, Australia. It has some really interesting ideas in it, like the rise of Women's and Girl's rights and the beginning of the LGBTQ+ community as well.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

where is the climaxes?

[Wendy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books. Makes you realise how different life used to be